tabularasa_rp | 004 - Lucid Dreaming

Lucid Dreaming Event Info Pt.1 ▲ Event Info Pt.2 ▼ Comments Please see the two info posts linked above for details on the nature of the event, the nightmares within, and the setting it takes place in. You may ask any unanswered questions in either post. If your character dies at any point during the dream event, please leave a comment in the death report thread to notify the mods.

As a final reminder, all characters will fall asleep for the full duration of this event whether you decide to take part or not. You may continue tagging threads that take place before the event, but everyone will fall asleep simultaneously.

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Falling Asleep, Waking Up
The shift happens without warning, much like the first time people appeared in the world. Perhaps you remember what you were doing in the last moments before a strange feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed you - or perhaps you remember nothing at all. Whatever it may be, you've appeared somewhere new. A seemingly ordinary train station, if not for the bizarre walls of flesh blocking the only exits. The only path forward is down into the pulsating depths, a humid breeze pushing at your back.

There may be others here with you, or you may be alone. Could there be more people trapped in this strange place? You won't find them just by standing around.

Nightmares
The screeching of a distant train will echo through the tunnels on occasion, shadows flicking through the translucent flesh of the walls. Sometimes, however, instead of fading away the noise will only grow louder, closer, until it sounds like the train should be upon you. It never appears, but something else always will.

The train is a siren call for nightmares, and you're unfortunate enough to be their victim. The shadows turn alive, twisting and growing as they rise up from the ground and begin to transform. What form they take varies, but the shadows of the mind know the true fears of those who walk among them. Are you prepared to face the darkness?

Volcanic Panic

The shadows congeal at the edges of the floor, and soon after a hot orange glow begins to fill the room - molten lava is pooling in from the other end of the tunnel. It rolls slowly forward, devouring everything it touches with an unquenchable searing hunger, leaving behind only the charred bones of its victims... although, strangely, the tunnels themselves appear to be completely unharmed.

Outrunning the flow of lava shouldn't be a problem, but there seems to be no end to it. How long can you run from something that never stops? Or worse, what happens if you find yourself surrounded? You'll need to find a way to higher ground before that happens.

A Radiant Plague

The shadows rise up into familiar shapes, and at first glance it'd be easy to mistake them for people. They may even share the faces and voices of people you know, stumbling towards you with wide, open arms... and empty, glowing eyes filled with an orange light. Something smells sickly sweet, and it's only once they're close enough to grab you that they begin to attack.

These are not your friends, and they'll do whatever it takes to make you one of them instead. Unfortunately, it's not an experience you'll be able to survive. Your only hope is to fight back before the plague can take hold, lest you become another mindless husk that knows only to further spread the infection.

Trust No One, Not Even Yourself

The shadows stretch and fill the air, choking everything in a thick blanket of darkness... before dispersing just as quickly as they'd appeared. A few moments pass and nothing else seems to be happening. You must've gotten lucky this time!

... Or did you?

Surely it can't be that simple. Nothing else here has been, so something must have happened just now. It's only you and the person you're currently traveling with... but are you sure that's really them right now? How do you know they haven't been possessed by another nightmare, waiting until you let your guard down to stab you in the back? Should you interrogate them to be sure, or start with restraining them and ask questions later? Wouldn't it be better to just kill them before things get out of hand? The sooner you strike, the safer you'll be when their true form emerges.

Yes, that must be the real explanation. It has to be them that's been possessed by a nightmare. What else could it be?

Joker’s Wild

There’s no limit to what form the shadows can take. The world may have its own perception of fear, but your nightmares are something only you could understand. What darkness lurks in the depths of your heart?

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code bases by tricklet

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wow...

[ Somehow, in all of her travels through these awful tunnels, she's come across... Well, something actually beautiful. Maybe still not safe, but also not filled with lava, either.

Aerith enters the chamber with expression of awe, glancing around for the source of the music. Her eyes soon fall on a woman she's seen before around the void, though not one she's spoken with, and she offers a little wave. ]

Hey... [ Hopefully, the paranoia won't settle on either of them the way it'd affected Aerith and some others previously. ] You're really good at that, you know?

[The dark-haired woman looks over to the only other living thing present (a very stunning thing, at that) and gives a modest smile at the compliment. Hugging the instrument against herself, Melinoë voices her gratitude. ]

Gratzi, bellissima. Years ago, my parents provided me with a private tutor. I haven't played in almost a year, but I still find enjoyment in performing.

[ A beat, then (sans title, for now) - ] My name is Melinoë. May I have the pleasure of your name?

[ Oh! Now this is a very fancy woman.

Aerith offers a little curtsy before springing back into place. ]

I'm Aerith. You have a really beautiful name! [ Nothing like she's ever heard before. ] Did you have that instrument when you arrived, or did you find it here?

Aerith, [ she repeats, holding the name on her tongue as the smile sweetens. ] Hm. No, I've created it, just as I've given life to this theatre, to those ghosts.

[ Mel uses the bow to point at the spirits sprinkled throughout the seating. ]

I am a Goddess, the Goddess of nightmares, of ghosts, and when we woke up in this place, I found that my abilities had been restored, in full.

Oh. [ Wow. There sure are a lot of gods in this place, huh? ] That's amazing. I'm glad you use your powers to make beautiful music, and not anything scary, or something!

[ Particularly since she's the Goddess of nightmares and ghosts... Hmm. Maybe Aerith's already making too many assumptions. ]

I wonder what it is about these tunnels that helped people to get their powers back? It's all so strange, really...

[ Mel can't help but chortle lowly at the innocent, albeit false, remark, and she politely corrects the other woman. ]

I wouldn't quite write that off just yet. The cello playing, that's a habit I like to indulge in from time to time, but it's the mortal's hobby. My nightmares cause insanity when I push them thusly, and I can summon ghosts to fight alongside me.

However, I also summon them for others; lost loved ones for a goodbye or a visit. Perhaps I'm more, hm, sixty-forty, the former being the scary bits.

[ Her smile is nonjudgmental, though. ]

[ Welp. Aerith offers a light "hmm" in response, not wanting to push her luck with this likely-powerful, and apparently potentially-dangerous stranger. ]

It's...nice that you'd help people say goodbye to the ones they've lost. [ She offers meekly, tilting her head to peer at Mel from where she stands. ] That's a really powerful ability.

[ And nothing anyone in their world could pull off, not even with Raise. ]

Thank you. It's one of my most favourite things, [ she purrs, sighing contently. And it's true; between the three 'main' abilties of hers, Mel adores the ghosts. She loved being able to help those at the academy.

Curious, the Goddess asks - ]

I know that not everyone here is simply human; are there any tricks you're capable of, Aerith?

Tricks? Nope, not me! [ That...may or may not be true. ] I can use materia, same as everyone else in my world, which is kinda like magic. And, I guess I can talk to my flowers, but that's a special case.

[ She shrugs, as if to say "that's it." ]

I'm really nothing too special.

[ Mel perks up at the flower talk, eyes alight. ]

My mother does the same; she's the Goddess of springtime. That's why I'm wearing this dress, in her honour. [ She runs her hands along the parts free of flora and spins in place once ] Do they speak back, then?

Really? Wow... She must have incredible power. [ Aerith's tone is reverent, and she smiles warmly. After all, how different might "the Goddess of springtime" and her own Planet really be? ] They do...in a way. It's hard to describe. They don't talk like people, after all.

[ Not in so many words. 'Talking' to the flowers is a much less literal experience than she makes it seem, when others are around. ]

[ With a knowing look, she nods in understanding, and it also works in agreement with how powerful Persephone is. Maybe she'll also show up, and Aerith will be in the top three people she immediately introduces her to. ]

It would be fun if they could, but I don't expect them to be like the talking flowers in books. While most of the spirits can and do speak like the people they once were, I've encountered some that operate similarly. It's more like...a feeling.

Yeah. Exactly. [ Clearly, this stranger gets it. Aerith's expression softens; although they're in a dangerous place, she feels somewhat more at least the longer this conversation goes on. ] But...there's no one left back home who really understands. Some people kinda humor me, and...I appreciate that, too. But...it isn't the same.

[ Not since her mother had died, leaving her alone in the world. ]

004 - Lucid Dreaming

the theater, and pb form!

<3

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